7-year-old student killed in Kodagu residential school fire; short circuit suspected

The incident occurred at Har Mandir School, where a blaze broke out in the wee hours, engulfing part of the residential facility.

A seven-year-old boy tragically lost his life in a fire accident at a residential school in Kodagu district, Karnataka, early on Thursday morning, police said.

The dead body of the 90-year-old deceased man has been shifted to a local hospital for post-mortem examination.

The incident occurred at Har Mandir School, where a blaze broke out in the wee hours, engulfing part of the residential facility. While 29 other students staying at the school were safely rescued, the victim, identified as Pushpak (7), a Class 2 student from Chettimani village in Madikeri taluk, could not be saved, news agency PTI reported.

Firefighters from the Madikeri Fire Station, assisted by local residents, managed to bring the flames under control after several hours of effort. Preliminary investigations suggest that a short circuit may have triggered the fire.

"There were 29 students in this residential school. All others are safe except for this boy. Investigations are on to ascertain the cause of the fire, though preliminarily it seems that a short circuit was the reason behind the fire," a police officer told PTI.

Senior police officials and fire brigade personnel later visited the site to conduct an inspection and assess the extent of the damage.

(With PTI inputs)